Circuit breaker control mechanism



Original Filed Feb. 27, 1942 H. E. PEARSON CIRCUIT BREAKER CONTROLMECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

May 22, 1945. H. E. PEARSON i 2,376,503

CIRCUIT BREAKER CONTROL MECHANISM V Original Fil-ed Feb. 27, 1942 2Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/ I T- if in Arr-want) Patented May 22,1945 CIRCUIT BREAKER, CONTROL MECHANISM Harold E. Pearson, Bethlehem,Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Realty and IndustrialCorporation, Convent, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Originalapplication February 27, 1942, Serial No. 432,571. Divided and thisapplication May 3, 1943, SerialNo. 485,438 r 3 Claims.

3 This invention relates to circuit breakers which are housed incompartments and wherein the frontof each compartment is closed by adoor or a movable panel. The circuit breaker in each of suchcompartments is mounted on a movable frame or truck in order that thebreaker may be conveniently withdrawn or replaced. The movable unitcarries yieldable contacts which engage fixed contacts at the rear. ofthe compartment for connecting the circuit breaker to the buses andcarries auxiliary contacts for engaging contacts mounted at the rear ofthe unit for control purposes. When the breaker unit is moved from itsnormal operating position outwardly from the compartment, the maincircuit breaker contacts are interrupted while the auxiliary controlcontacts are still maintained. ..This is known as the test position.Upon further outward movement of the unit, the connections and theauxiliary control circuits are broken and all parts of the unit aredisconnected from the fixed contacts of the compartment and thisposition is known as the disconnected position of the unit.

It is desirable in each of these positions to provide mechanism whichwill indicate at the front of the compartment whether the breaker isopen or closed. These compartments are usually stacked one above theother and side by side and the door at the front is the usual means ofaccessto. each compartment.

This application is a division of my pending application Serial No.32,571, filed February 2'7, 1942. l

. Oneobject of this invention is to provide a simple form of mechanismwhich will indicate whether the breaker is open or'closed when the doorof the compartment is closed, regardless of the position to which themovable circuit breaker unit has been moved within the compartment.Other objects and advantages will be understood from the followingdescription and accompany ing drawings which illustrate one embodimentof the invention.

Fig. l is a front elevation, partly in section, showing the breaker inits compartment; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the breaker within itscompartment, partly in section, on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is afront view of the indicator through the door; Fig. l is an enlarged sideview, partly in section, on the line 44 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is an enlargedplan view, partly in section of the indicator control mechanism.

The invention is applicable to any type of drawout circuit breaker andalthough in the drawings an air break circuit breaker of the formdisclosed in the J. D. Wood Patent No. 2,129,723

granted September 13, 1938, is indicated, any other form or type ofcircuit breaker might be used and the present invention applied thereto.The compartment is shown provided with side walls and top and bottomwalls Ill preferably made of sheet steel. The rear end of thecompartment, as shown in Fig. 2, is provided with an insulating panel II which supports the main conductors l2 which lead to the buses. Theseconductors pass through the panel I l and are adapt ed to beengaged bythe yieldable main contacts of the circuit breaker. On the front of thispanel is mounted a series of conductors 13 which are connected toauxiliary control circuits and whichextend forwardly beyond the ends ofthe conductors 12. The conductors l3 are adapted to 'be engaged byyieldable contacts carried by the movable unit which contacts areconnected to the various control relays of the circuit breaker.

The movable unit is supported on a truck frame l4 provided with wheelsMa which are in turn supported and guided by rails l5 positioned at the:bottom of the compartment and at each side thereof. These rails permitthe truck and breaker carried therebyto be moved forwardly to the testor to the disconnected position within the compartment from theoperative position shown in Fig. 2. The truck supports a verticallyextending insulating panel l6 which supports the circuit breaker and itscontrolling parts. The breaker shownis of the threepole type, as shownin Fig. 1, and is provided with fixed contacts con-.

nected to conductors H which pass through the panel rearwardly and carrythe yieldable contacts which are adapted to engage the conductors l2when the breaker is in the operating position. The panel supports theframes I8 which extend. forwardly and support the main movable contactarms 19 of the breakers which arepivoted on the cross. rod l9a. Thevarious parts of thebreaker mechanism need not be particularlydescribedas they. are shown the same as disclosed in said patent, itbeingsufficient to state that upon the automatic opening of any one of thepoles of the breaker, the latch rod 2|] is turned in a counter-clockwisedirection, looking at Fig. 2, whichresults in tripping all three polesof the breaker and causing them to move to their open position. A seriesof conductors l'3a is mounted on the panel l6 and these conductors areconnected to the various control circuits of the breaker and areprovided with yieldable contacts which are adapted to engage theconducto each other forming a bell crank lever.

tors l3 respectively when the movable unit is in the operative positionor in the test position.

The control for indicating on the outside of the door whether thebreaker is open or closed in any position ofthe unit is, in theparticular instance shown, governed by a pin 3] fixed to one of thecircuit breaker contact arms I9 and which extends sidewise therefrom, asshown in Figs.

1 and 5. i A sidewise extending pin 32 is fixed to one of the sideportions I8 of the circuit breaker frame. A pair of arms 33, 3.3a .arepivotally mounted on the pin 32 andthe-arms. are fixed- The arm 33a isengaged on its front edge by the pin 3|; and the arm 33 at its front endis provided with a pin 34 which extends sidewisejtoward the right-handside of the compartment.

A plate 35 is fixed to a frame support 36 which is at the right-handside of the compartment. A. metal strip 3'! is pivoted at its rear endon the support 35 and extends forwardly close to the inner side of thedoor and is provided at its front end with an indicating plate 3711located opposite'an openingin the door. The pin 34, extends under thelower edge of the strip 3.! in the region between the pivotal support ofthe strip and the front end of the strip. The support 35 is providedwith a lug. 35a on its inner side and its top. surface is inclined, asshown in Fig. 4, for limiting the extent of the downward movement of thestrip 3'! when released by the pin '34. Fixed toa portion of the frameof the compart ment. is a bent plate 38 of sheet metal and it serves asa guide for the front portion. of the strip 31 the latter being freelymovable in a slot 38:: in the inwardly extending portion of the platen.This slot is open-ended at its bottom to permit downward movement f'thestrip 31 until it engages the inclined surface of the lug 35a.

Referring to Fig. 2, there is provided at the right-hand side of thedoor opposite the indicator plate 31a a small opening 411. The plate 31abears a label Off at its upper portion and a label Onat its lowerportion, One or the other of these labels is visible through the'opening4i] depending upon whether the breaker is open or closed.

With the door closed and with the breaker in its closed position, asshown in .Fig. 2, the pin 3| is in engagement with the arm 330. whichcauses the arm 33 and the pin 34 to hold the strip 31 in its upperposition and thereby hold the movable indicator plate in its upperposition to indicate that the breaker is closed. When the breaker movesto its open position, the pin 31.no'longer retains the arm 33a in theposition shown in Fig. 2 which permits the strip 3! to drop .to itslowest position indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. This permitsthe indicator plate 31a to drop to its lowest position and therebyexposes the label 01f on the front of the upper portionv of the platethrough the opening for indicating thatthe breaker is open. Upon closingthe breaker, the pin 31 will turn. the arms 33 and i 33a in a. clockwisedirection, looking at, Fig. '2, and thereby raise the movable indicatorplate to indicate that the breaker is closed. When. the movable breakerunit is moved forwardly. to the test position or to the disconnectedposition, the pin 34 is carried with the breaker unit under the strip 31and it follows that in either or these positions, the indicator will becontrolled in the same manner as already described to indicate whetherthe breaker is open or closed. Thus a common controlling means isprovided for indicating the closed or open position of the breakerthrough the opening in the door in any location of the movable breakerunit.

The improvements herein described may be applied to any form or typeofcircuit breaker having any number of poles and of the air break or oiltype circuit breaker, as well as to breakers which are manually orautomatically closed. Various modifications may be made without de-vparting from the scope of the invention in adapting the same toparticular types and to particular applications.

1. The combination of a movable circuit breaker unit, astationarycompartment enclosing said Imit, said circuit breaker unit being movableas a, unit relatively to the compartment to occupy different positionswithin the compartment, an indicator visible from the outside of thecompartment for showing the open or closed position of the breaker, amovable element mounted within the compartment for actuating saidindicator, and means controlled by the opening and closing of thebreaker for actuating said movable element to control said indicator forshowing the open or closed position of the breaker in the different,positions to which said circuit breaker unit has been moved within thecompartment.

2. The combination of a movable circuit breaker unit, a stationarycompartment enclosing said unit, said circuit breaker unit being movableas a unit relatively to the compartment to occupy different positionswithin the compartment, an indicator visible from the outside of thecompartment for showing the open or closed position of the breaker,amovable element mounted witl'rin the compartment for actuating saidindicator,

and pivoted means mounted on said movable cir' cuit breaker unit andcontrolled by the opening and closing movement of the breaker forengaging and actuating said element to control said indicator forshowing the open or closed position of the breaker in the differentpositions to which said circuit breaker unit has been moved within thecompartment.

3,. The combination of a movable circuit breaker unit, a. stationarycompartment enclosing said unit, said circuit breaker unit being movableas J a unit relatively to the compartment to occupy differentpositionswithin the compartment, an indicator visible from the outside of thecompartmentifor showing the open and closed position of the breaker, anelongated pivoted element mounted within the compartment for actuatingsaid indicator, and means controlled by the opening and closing movementof the breaker for engaging and controlling said element for showingt'heopen or closed position of the breaker in the different positions towhich said circuit breaker-"unit has been moved within the compartment.

HAROLD E. PEARSON.

